Indians vote for Obama

Polls show Indians firmly back Obama for presidentThe vast majority of American Indian voters support Sen. Barack Obama for president, according to a poll by Native Vote, a national agency that works to engage American Indians in elections.

Overall, 89 percent of all Indians polled support Obama. In Washington state, 94 percent of all Indians polled support the Illinois senator.

Sen. John McCain's most supportive state, when it comes to tribal members, is Oklahoma, where he is expected to take 42 percent of the vote among Indians. Even there, he's tied with Obama. In Arizona, McCain's home state, 74 percent of all Indians polled support Obama, and just 14 percent support McCain.

McCain, a longtime member of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, was supportive of tribes until about three years ago, said Theresa Sheldon, coordinator for Native Vote's Washington state effort. That's when he began to recommend that tribal casinos be subject to stiffer regulation, she said.Last minute Indian country support aided ObamaThe conversion of Allen, who chairs the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe, is perhaps the most dramatic example of a Native pro-McCain supporter crossing party lines. He was announced as a member of the American Indians for McCain Coalition during the Republican National Convention in September. Later that month, he offered positive assessments of McCain’s selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate, telling Indian Country Today that “if she and Sen. McCain are elected, it would provide a basis for a stronger Indian policy.”

But Allen said “something big” changed for him between mid-September and late-October when the Obama campaign triumphantly released a statement from him indicating that he had switched allegiances. He still sees himself as a friend to McCain, but said a combination of circumstances built up that forced him not to cast his vote for the senator from Arizona.

“It always bothered me that [McCain] had taken such a hard line attitude on earmarks, because earmarks have been opportunities to make meaningful adjustment to the budget on Indian-focused policies.

“I could not get him or his team to put together a platform that had a stronger commitment to correcting the wrongs and injustices that have happened to tribes over the years.”

Allen said his pleas were not ignored by the McCain campaign, but the feedback he received was “not as definitive” as he would have liked on specific issues, including budgetary commitments and regulatory oversight over gaming.Comment:  That most Indians voted for Obama goes without saying since Most Indians Are Democrats.

For more on the subject, see The 2008 Presidential Campaign.